22/52 Bea at the River

Bea loves the water.  I shot this right before she leaped into the river.  She will stand on the bank then suddenly launch herself into the air and splash in the water.  She swims around, climbs back up and does it again and again.  It is the funniest thing I have seen in a long while. 

Click Here for LINK TO EXIF DATA

I was happy with this shot, but I wish I could have gotten it without the grass stem in front of her face.  Oh well....

Earlier in the week I got some sweet shots of Bea swimming in the pond. 

I have found the trick to getting the reflection is the angle of light.  This was shot in the late afternoon with an overcast sky, the sun had dipped below the cloud cover on its way down to the horizon - casting a lovely glow, lighting up the eyes. 

The bright light also lights up the splash, but the reflection of the clouds in the water keeps it from being overblown and washed out - providing a nice contrast.

The only post processing I did on these shots were quick crops.  That is the lovely thing about this type of lighting....perfection.

It helps when you have a perfectly adorable subject too. 

21/52 Buttercup Bea

May 28, 2011

Bea racing across a field of buttercups. 

Click here for LINK TO EXIF DATA

This week was a big turning point for Bea. She became a 'woman' if you know what I mean. She entered her first heat cycle. She has actually been quite lovely behaving, just a bit clingy. Gone are the days of puppyhood...she is so quickly growing up. I hope one day she will grow into that massive tongue. 

 

This was shot in our normal play field, which has sprouted oodles of buttercups. It was a challenge to shoot this, keeping the focus on Bea while she raced through these tall grasses and buttercups which was driving my autofocus nuts. The end result makes me smile. It is pretty much SOOC, just a quick crop and cross process.

Here are a few more of my favorites.  

Buttercup bokeh in front and behind. 

By far my favorite shot of Bea in the buttercups.  I almost wish I would have gone with this one as my selection, but I did not get it processed in time for the Sunday night deadline.  

20/52 Bea an Angel....NOT!

22 May, 2011 

For those of you who think Bea is a careful, cautious, worried little angel, I submit for your consideration this photo. 

Camera: Canon EOS 7D

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

Aperture: f6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/800

ISO: 320

Brynn would tell you that Bea is decidedly NOT an angel.  Particularly when Bea is hanging off of poor Brynn's neck as they are running. 

Have no fear, Brynn does correct Bea from time to time.  Brynn is Bea's obsession.  She follows her everywhere, she is fixated on anything and everything that Brynn is doing.  Lately I have been going out of my way to separate the two of them - to give Brynn a break from Bea's constant 'stalking' also to help Bea break that dependence on Brynn. 

I loved this shot because it captured Bea in her element - pre-grip.  The spit was flying and Brynn knows the grip is coming - but is still smiling. 

Here Bea is sneaking up the hill behind Brynn...

Ahhhh....border collies.  So typical..

But so darn cute.  

19/52 Bea with Bokeh Beth

Bea resting in the field with her pack mate Beth behind her during one of the very few nice days we have had this week.   I chose this one for my 52 weeks because for once Bea does not look intense, rather relaxed, yet alert.

I just started processing pictures in Photoshop Elements.  I have no idea what I did to strip all the EXIF Data off this picture, but I must have done something...apparently 'Save for Web' strips everything off your photo? 

I shot with my Canon EOS 7D on 5/12/11 - have no idea what the settings were. I am sorry....  but given the lens I was shooting with (100-400mm) it is doubtful it was below f5.6.  I would guess f7.1 and 1/1250 if I stayed true to typical form for this lighting. 

18/52 Bubble Bea

Camera:  Canon EOS 7D

Lens: Canon EF 135mm f/2L

Aperture: f5.0

Shutter/Exposure: 1/500

ISO: 2500

Bea is chasing a bubble in the yard.  My husband took one look at this and said Bea looked like a corgi because her legs were so small, yet her ears were so big.  Looking at it now I think he may be right. 

The technical stuff: the sun had fallen below the horizon, and it was getting dark in the backyard.  I shot this with an ISO 2500, which made it quite noisy - more than I am comfortable with.  Oh well...still a cute shot. 

A runner up selection for this week below. 

Because of the low lighting conditions (sunset) and the way I had to shoot in particular sections of my back yard (the sun needs to be at a certain angle to light up the bubbles the best way) it required I use a lower shutter speed than normal.  Most of the shots were not as crisp and sharp as I like - but they are still adorable.  

Bea really looks like a puppy in this shot

I think we will try this again, earlier in the evening for better lighting conditions.  The light will still be low, but with less cloud cover it will brighten up the colors so much more and I can use a better aperture setting so I am able to get deeper depth of field.   I also want to see how it looks when the vegetation has covered the fence in the back yard for a little more aesthetic appeal in the background.

Bea is intent on whatever she is doing...even killing a bubble.  

"So many bubbles, so little time!"

Bubble Bea to the rescue! 

17/52 Splashing Bea

Bea runs through the water, right at my camera - the light was perfectly bright in her eyes.  She loves the water.  You can't keep her out of it. 

Camera: Canon EOS 7D

Aperture: f6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/800

ISO: 200

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

Of course I had some other favorites and found it hard to choose once again.  I chose the one I did because of the perfect focus on her eyes.  The detail captured in her whiskers, the splash/water and the expression on her face. 

This picture was a close second  (all the pictures below were shot with the same camera settings)

This one made me giggle because of the expression on her face, watching Brynn.  

Weeeeeee she loves the water!

With Brynn and Ranger

Buried in the splash!

As the weather warms I am sure we will see many more weeks with water pictures. 

16/52 Working Bea

April 23, 2001

This weekend was spent working sheep all day, every day on a large (1500 head) sheep ranch.  Dianne Deal came over from Idaho to teach lessons and hold a handlers clinic.  She put Bea on sheep again this week and she showed a glimpse of what she will be as she grows. 

Bea is not ready for training yet, as she is too young.   Right now the focus is just to get Bea engaged and having fun, letting her feel successful and happy working - a positive experience which helps build her confidence.

I was very happy with this shot although I struggled with the composition a wee bit.  It is always lovely to shoot action in the bright sunlight - which we see so rarely here in the Pacific Northwest of late. 

Camera: Canon EOS 7D

Aperture: f/6.3

Shutter Speed/Exposure: 1/1250

ISO: 500

Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

Here is this week's runner up.  It was hard to choose.  I liked her expression in this shot, and the sheep looked cool, but what won me over with the shot above was the action and I really liked all four feet off the ground. 

Aperture: f/6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/1250

ISO: 400

Same camera and lens.

Another one of this week's favorites, this one is back lit.  If you look at it in the original size you can see all the bugs flying around in the frame.  In the end I didn't care for the detail lost in the under exposed parts of the shot.  

Aperture: f/6.3

Shutter/Exposure: 1/1000

ISO: 800

Same lens and Camera.